The Tangled Web
by eternalember
Summary: Think One Tree Hill with the characters from Angel. Angel (Lucas) has feelings for Buffy (Peyton)... (Completed)
1. Tangled Web

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss, and the (grrr) WB Rating: Soft R at best, some language 

Ok, here are the characters:

Buffy- Peyton

Angel- Lucas

Spike- Nathan

Wesley- Mouth

Darla- random popular girl (because I felt like it)

Cordelia- Haley

Faith- Brooke

Joyce- Angel's Mom

Dan- himself

One Tree Hill….-sigh- oh what a tangled web…

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The orange ball gracefully fell through the net with a brilliant swoosh. Angel wiped his forehead and panted, hands on his knees.

"Damn I'm tired." He said with difficult breaths.

Wesley grinned. "Man you're definitely ready for the game on Friday."

"You think so?"

"I know so.

Just then, an unexpected visitor came to the court.

"Oh look it's Angel and his mouth…you think you'll actually help us win on Friday?" Spike asked.

The air suddenly filled with tension, and Wesley could feel it.

"Like you will, can't forget the game last week…" Angel replied with a thin smile.

"Shut up…"

"Going for the net, making a big deal…" Angel continued.

"I mean it Angel…" Spike said between gritted teeth.

"Bounce…bounce…" he said, mimicking his half brother, "off the rim and into the hands of the opposite team."

"I said shut the fuck up!" Spike roared.

Angel laughed and tossed his basketball through the net, making a perfect free throw.

Spike immediately turned red and exploded at him. "Get off the damn court!"

"My pleasure." The handsome, tall teenager grabbed his duffel bag and walked away, his friend traipsing behind.

"How was basketball?" Joyce asked as her son walked through the door. She smiled as she dried some plates near the sink.

Angel grunted. "Don't want to talk about it."

He then walked into his room and slammed his door shut.

"Teenagers," His mother sighed, and continued her task of drying dishes.

Angel sank into his bed and stared at the ceiling. Seeing Spike always made him feel like hurling, he had way too many issues with Dan, and basically their whole family.

He turned to his nightstand and stared at a picture of him and Cordelia. It made him smile, thinking of all the fun he and his best friend had had when they were little kid, shooting hoops and playing around in Joyce's café. Then he looked at a picture of him and Faith.

He buried his face in his hands. _Why me?_

Faith was the fun one, the one who made him laugh and let him have a good time. There was never a dull moment with her; that was for sure.

But there was just something about Buffy.

Buffy and Brooke were the best of friends, actually they were all friends since elementary school and they did everything together, but it amazed Angel how different Buffy and Faith were. She'd lost her mom a while back and she always seemed so bottled up after that. She wore a lot of black and loved rock, _his_ kind of music. But her bouncy blonde hair and the fact that she was a cheerleader set her apart from all the other depressed junkies. She smiled a lot, but it was a lovely, almost dangerous smile.

Faith was different.

Where to begin? She was a risk taker, a little spoiled, maybe even a little slutty. He had to admit, she was gorgeous and feminine and sexy, always wearing tight jeans and tank tops that drove him wild. But how many times had he heard the "I did it with Faith Montgomery" locker room talk? At least a dozen! He knew most of it was probably bullshit, but it still annoyed him. Faith was fun, but she never took anything seriously.

"Angel honey! Dinner!' His mom called.

"Coming!"

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Ok, what do you think? I love getting reviews! (wink wink)


	2. A Rude Awakening

The early November atmosphere eagerly welcomed winter as a chilly wind made it's way through Tree Hill. Buffy hugged her knees in her blanket and attempted to get out of bed.

"Wake up sleepy head!" A cheery voice ordered.

"Faith…it's too early!" She moaned and dove under the blankets.

Faith pulled her out, grinning. "It's freakin 10 am! We have to go shopping!"

"For what?"

"A new dress to wear out to dinner with Angel tonight silly."

Buffy sighed to herself. That's all she ever heard, Faith and Angel. They were the 'it' couple. It was really dumb of her to have feelings for her best friend's boyfriend of 5 months, but she just couldn't help it.

"I feel pretty shitty today Faith, can I cancel out and sleep?" She pretended to cough.

"Um…yeah ok…maybe tomorrow or something?"

"Sounds great."

Buffy heard the front door close and she sank back into her bed. The disappointment in Faith's voice made her feel awful. She would run out of excuses to hang out with her eventually.

"Buffy?" Her dad called upstairs, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah dad I'm up!" She answered.

"Sweetie I got an urgent call from the base, they need me down there pronto, I'll be home the day after tomorrow latest!"

She sighed. _The fabulous life of an army brat._

He didn't even remember what day tomorrow would be.

"What's with you?" Cordy took a break from wiping the counters.

"Nothing." Angel slurped his coffee and tried to smile.

She looked at him skeptically and turned the open sign to closed. Angel always hung out with her when she closed down the Café.

"Angel I've known you since we were in diapers, I think I can tell when something's wrong…"

"Look it's nothing ok!"

She looked startled and hurt at the same time. "What's your deal? I'm just trying to help!"

He sighed apologetically. "Look I'm sorry…I've just got a lot on my mind…I think I might break it up with Faith pretty soon."

_About time, she thought. _"Awww…why?" she asked trying to sound upset.

"We're just way too different you know?"

"Yeah…I gotcha."

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REVIEW PLEASE!


	3. Emotions

School was weird. It always was. As if seeing Spike on a daily basis was bad enough, Angel also had to deal with his guilty feelings for Buffy around Faith.

"Hey sugar…" Faith said kissing his lips softly, sensually.

"Hey…" he said vaguely.

Buffy walked right past them and clutched her patch covered messenger bag tighter.

Faith rolled her eyes. "What's with her?"

Angel shrugged. "I gotta get to class, I'll see you tonight."

He didn't want to take her to that expensive new restaurant in town, but she'd been hinting about it for weeks. _Talk about high maintenance, he thought._

Buffy sniffed and let her tears absorb into a wadded up paper towel. She leaned against the stall in the bathroom and let her emotions flow. The final bell rang, but she didn't care. She grabbed her bag and walked to her car. No one would miss her, and she needed to get away from this place. Besides, she never gave a fuck about what other people thought of her.

At Faith's house, Darla marveled her new top. The popularity princess of Tree Hill High fingered the neckline beads of the black halter top.

"Angel is gonna melt when he's that on you. Girl you're getting laid tonight!" She exclaimed.

Faith grinned and put the top back in her closet. It was sexy and revealing and made her senses tingle when she tried it on. She knew he'd love it.

She was going to wear something embarrassingly revealing and he knew it.

Angel fiddled with his tie and wondered what the point of this was. Everyone was going to point and snicker at the 'slut' in the skimpy outfit and he hated it.

There was a knock on the door. Followed by a soft "can I come in?"

"My, my look at you." Joyce said. She adjusted her son's tie. "When did you become such a ladies man?"

"Mom!" Angel grinned.

She laughed. "I love you so much sweetheart. You know that don't you?"

He hugged her warmly and nodded. "I love you too mom."

TBC…


	4. Her Knight In Shining Armor

Buffy softly wept as she drove along the dark road. Cars rarely passed by her and she didn't know where she was going.

But she just kept driving.

It relaxed her sometimes. It was just her behind the wheel, no one else was in control, just her.

Some depressing song was playing on the radio.

_Enough of that._

She bent forward, taking her eyes of the road momentarily, to change stations.

But that moment changed everything.

"Noooo!!!" Buffy screamed as the car swerved to the side of the road. Her front wheels glided over the grass while her back wheels plopped quickly into a pile of thick mud. She tried to move, only accomplishing spraying mud everywhere.

"Damnit!" She screamed angrily, kicking the side of her car. She began to sob uncontrollably, feeling helpless and alone. She reached into her jacket for her phone.

No service.

Buffy didn't know what to do. She staggered to the nearby convenience store and gasped.

"Payphone?" She asked a cashier.

"In the back." The woman said, filing her nails.

Buffy rushed to the payphone and slid a quarter through the slot. She first thought of calling Faith, but her fingers danced across the number pad in a different pattern.

Angel reached for his cell phone and answered it not bothering to look at who called. Probably Faith, he thought.

"Hello?" He asked into the receiver.

"Angel!"

Angel looked confused. "Buffy? Are you okay?"

She sobbed wildly into the phone. "I-I didn't know who else to call…my car…and everything is just all wrong and really, really bad."

She spoke nonsense into the receiver, choking on her own tears.

"Where are you?"

"Some convenience store off of Route 30…"

"Don't worry Buffy, I'll find it. I'm gonna call for a tow truck and bring you home." He assured her.

"Th-thank you…" she whispered, doubting he could hear it.

The tow truck failed to arrive timely, but Angel was there. She ran to him and fell into his arms. He was surprised, but not in a bad way.

"Shhh…it's ok, I'm here." She whispered, still holding her. She then weakly walked to his truck and they drove away.

Angel occasionally looked at Buffy in wonder as he drove back to Tree Hill. He wondered why she was there, what she was thinking. He also felt guilty about leaving Faith at the restaurant alone, but she needed him.

Buffy lay next to him in a dreamless sleep. He fingered one of her golden curls and immediately pulled away.

_What are you thinking?_

He had no idea what he was thinking, but the foreign feeling wasn't unpleasant.

Buffy woke up as they reached her house. He walked her to her front door.

"The truck should come by with your car by tomorrow." He said.

She nodded.

"Angel, I can't thank you enough…"

He smiled. "Anytime. I'm glad you called me."

Buffy peered into her dark, empty house and looked at him.

"Do you think maybe you could hang out for a while? I just don't really feel like being alone…" She asked, wondering what he would say.

He wanted this. "Sure."

The two walked into her house, shutting the door behind them.

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	5. In The Dark

Buffy turned on a light to illuminate the dark downstairs.

"Would you like something to drink?' She asked.

"Um…no thanks." He said back, paying more attention to the framed posters on the wall.

"You're dad's into The Ramones?" He asked with amazement.

She blushed a little, "Yeah…I just bought a new collection of their CD's, wanna see?"

Angel smiled and followed his friend to her room.

He flipped through an album of rock and alternative CD's and looked up at the Disturbed and Nirvana posters against the background of her deep red wall. There was a picture of Him, Faith, Buffy, Wesley, and Cordelia from when they were kids next to them.

"Where's that from?" He asked pointing to the photograph.

"Don't you remember? We were like seven and your mom took us to the zoo."

"Oh yeah! Faith tried to hop the fence to get to the lions but my mom pulled her back. I remember!" He said.

They both laughed, and talked some more about all the stupid things they did when they were kids.

"Can I ask you something?" Angel asked.

"Shoot." Buffy replied wit a mouthful of zebra cakes.

"What were you doing out there in the middle of the night?"

Buffy sighed. "My mom died 6 years ago tonight. I was just really upset about it, that's all."

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you weren't the drunk guy who slammed his car into hers."

There was silence, before Angel gathered up the courage to break it.

"What happened to us?" He asked. "We used to do a lot of stuff together."

Buffy shrugged. "You're always busy doing stuff with Faith and all-"

There was a soft buzz as all the lights in the house flickered off.

"Aw fuck!" Buffy screamed with irritation.

"What happened?"

"Dad forgot to pay the electric bill again." She sighed.

Buffy felt under her bed for a flashlight. She found one, then headed downstairs.

"I'm just gonna grab some candles from the drawer so we're not stuck in the dark."


	6. Morning After

Dim light radiated from the candles as wax slowly dripped along their sides. Buffy looked pretty and mysterious with the light illuminating the side of her face.

Angel couldn't help it; he couldn't resist it anymore. He reached across and touched her face gently. It was soft and smooth.

He immediately pulled back.

"I'm sorry…I should go." He said with embarrassment.

"No! Please don't go Angel."

Angel shook his head. "We can't do this."

"Just hold me." She pleaded. She wanted to feel loved; she wanted to matter in someone's life so badly.

He held her, letting her embrace him. He bent his head down and kissed her lips softly, then passionately. She kissed him back as he slowly moved down to her neck.

It was different, this feeling, but wonderful. She was his; she belonged to him and no one else. She fumbled with his tie, then the buttons of his shirt. He slowly slipped off her leather jacket.

"I want you…" He whispered in her ear.

She kissed him again. "Angel, make love to me." She whispered back.

Clothes dotted her bedroom floor and he kept kissing her. He couldn't stop; she wouldn't let him.

Light streamed through the window as the events from last night slowly made their way back to her memory. She was asleep in his arms.

Angel yawned as he woke up and smiled at her. He fingered her curls and pushed them back from her face.

"Good morning." He said smiling.

She sank back into his arms and looked at his face. "That was nice."

"Yeah it was." He said, leaning over to kiss her again.

'Nice' couldn't describe it. It was amazing. It was real and pure and everything in between. He'd never felt so comfortable or happy with someone before.

Then he saw it.

He looked at a picture of Faith and Buffy and felt his heart sink. Faith didn't deserve this, and Buffy didn't deserve to lose her best friend.

It was a mistake, he didn't want it to be, but it was.

"Faith..." he said softly pulling away. "I'm sorry Buffy, I have to go."

Angel got out of bed and quickly threw his clothes on. Buffy wrapped herself in the sheet ran after him down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" She asked him. She felt hurt and shocked at the same time.

"Buffy, I can't do this to Faith!" He screamed back.

"What about last night? It's not gonna go away Angel! No matter what you do it'll never go away!" She screamed at him with tears streaming down her face.

"I know." He said softly. He reached for the door handle.

Buffy ran down the stairs to him. "Please..."

He turned away from her. "This was a mistake Buffy, I'm sorry."

He left without another word, leaving Buffy at the door, wrapped in a sheet, her heart completely torn into pieces.

She heard the truck speed down her street.

And that was that.

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Bittersweet I know, but what do you think?


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